Walking Under Water is the real-life adventure story of Alexan, a compressor diver and member of the Badjao tribe of ocean nomads who live on the edge of the Sulu and Celebes Seas in Borneo.
Getting older, Alexan wishes to pass on his skills and wisdom to 10-year-old Sari. But compression diving is dangerous and not a stable source of income.
Will Sari follow in Alexan’s footsteps or will he, instead, turn to the encroaching tourist industry for employment? Will Alexan be the last of the Badjao divers?
Polish alpinist and adventure filmmaker Eliza Kubarska travelled to Borneo as a climber and, finding Alexan, left as a diver herself.
Sumptuously photographed, both above ground and under water, by Piotr Rosolowski, Walking Under Water depicts not a mythical place, but certainly, even in its extremes, a magical one.
The film received The John Schlesinger Award at the 2015 Palm Springs Film Fest, which is presented to a first-time documentary filmmaker.